Blind Trust
by Slayzer
Summary: A mission goes badly for the Rebels. So now Ezra and Sabine are trapped in an Imperial dragnet. With no help from the rest of the team it's up to Ezra to use his street smarts to keep himself and an injured Sabine out of Imperial hands. Sabine also starts to see several sides of Ezra she never thought he had and the more she sees the more she likes. (Ezra/Sabine)
1. Chapter 1

Star War Rebels in owned by Disney and I make no profit off this use of their intellectual property.

While waiting for the show to pick up again from it's break I had to write something. In fact I had several half started ideas but this one I feel like I can not only start but finish. I hope you enjoy it.

Blind Trust

By Slayzer

It was night time on the streets of Lothal's Capital City and the perfect cover for a little espionage. Sabine and Ezra moved form one pool of shadows to the next and as it was a poorly lite industrial district there was plenty of darkness for them to skulk around in. So far the evenings work was going well.

In preparation for a raid on an Imperial armory Sabine was running around planting small explosive devices on the city's power gird. Just a few somethings to go 'pop' when the rebels make the armory go 'boom' that would keep the bucket-heads running in circles.

Ezra knew the back streets of Lothal better then anyone and he could get through the locks and alarms on the power boxes. Even the Imperials were not so careless as to not have anti-tampering devices on the city's power gird.

So far the two teens had left over a dozen little surprises for the Imperials and they were almost done. After that they meet up with Kanan and Zeb for the raid on the armory. Right now however there was still work to be done.

The next power box was tucked down a tight alleyway. With out needing to exchange a single word the two went to work. Sabine stayed by the entrance of the alley as a look out while Ezra ran on farther down and started to work on the lock.

The power box was large rectangle that set into the wall of a building. Ezra quickly checked that it was both sealed and wired with alarms to prevent the kind of tampering that he and Sabine were attempting to do. Digging into his backpack Ezra pulled out a clothe roll that held his precision toolkit. With the deftness of a burglar the Ezra used to be he had disabled the alarms and had the box unlocked in a matter of minutes.

Ezra glaces at this wrist chronometer to check the time. Do the the risk of signal jamming the bombs were all set on synchronized timers. So the bombs they already planted would go off even if Ezra and Sabine didn't make the rendezvous with Kanan and Zeb. Time was another issue to deal with and they were okay on time, not great but still doing okay.

Ezra ran where Sabine was crouched down at the alleyway's opening and tapped her right shoulder twice. Sabine nodded wordlessly and slipped down the alley while Ezra took over as the lookout. It was the explosives expert's job to place and set the bombs as well as seal up the power box again so it didn't looked like they been tampered with. Not a hard job for Sabine but it was one that had to be done quickly as time was running against them.

Sabine went to work setting another charge while Ezra kept a sharp looked out. So far he saw nothing but the odd cleaning droid sweeping the empty streets.

Unfortunately that didn't last.

Ezra heard them coming before he saw them. That familiar stomping of the boots of Stormtroopers as a squad marched down the street. The six man squad of bucket-heads had a remote with them and the little around black surveillance droid was sweeping the area a head of them. Those troopers would be on top of him and Sabine before long.

Ezra clicked on his comlink. "Specter Five we got a patrol heading our way."

"I just need a minute more to finish up."

"A minute might be more then you have."

"Then I'll work twice as fast."

Ezra bit his lip to stiffed a swearword. 'Is this what Kanan feels like when I'm being disobedient? If so then I'm surprised he doesn't have an ulcer.'

Seeing the troopers getting closer Ezra ducked back down the alleyway to grab Sabine and go. Sabine had other ideas and she was determined to finish the job.

Ezra crouched down next to Sabine and whispered forcibly to her."Times up, we have got to go now!"

"Then go if your frightened but I'm not leaving until I'm done."

Ezra growled frustrated at both his teammates hurtful words and her reluctance to listen to reason. "Hera was right when she said you can be too damn stubborn."

Sabine paid him no mind and kept working. Ezra then left the mandalorian girl on her own and moved down the other end of the alleyway.

A half minute later and Sabine was just finishing up her work. Even she knew she was cutting it close with only seconds to spare. The sound of marching boots drew nearer and nearer as Sabine resealed the power box. It looked like she was going to make a clean getaway after all.

But then as Sabine finished resealing the cover of the power box a small arc of electricity jumped from the power lines, to the cover and then to the bomb. It was little more then a spark but it was enough to set off the explosive charge.

A bright flash of light followed by a roar of sound as if the alleyway had been struck by a bolt of lightning. Lucky the bombs Sabine used were of a small yield and not powerful enough to kill someone. Of course it she never thought about them going off right in someone's face with a building's worth of power arcing through the air.

The blast threw Sabine off her feet and she hit the ground hard. Naturally this also brought the Stormtroopers running. "Halt! What are you doing here!?"

Sabine was just stating to pull herself up off the ground when a stormtrooper's boot connected with her ribs. "I asked you a question mando trash!"

This time it was the butt of a blaster rifle that hit Sabine's shoulder and she fell to the ground once more. The trooper was about ready to beat and answer out of her when his squad leader stopped him.

"Hold it. ISB has an all points bulletin about a girl in purple mando amror. She's part of a rebel cell."

"So we keep her alive long enough for the ISB to beat some Intel out of her?"

"No, it means she didn't come here alone. Lock down the city and call in reinforcements to sweep the area. The rest of that five person cell could be near by."

A yellow ball of energy was shot from somewhere above hitting the remote droid and destroying it. A boy's voice called out from a rooftop. "We're a six person rebel cell if count the grumpy astromech."

Then as if he was only hoping off the last step of a staircase and not a three story building Ezra jumped off the ledge. The force would have let Ezra land on his feet like cat but he chose land on the nearest troop's head. The big man fell collapsed the wight of the sudden impact and Ezra was no worse for it. Rolling with the momentum of the fall Ezra picked up the fallen troopers blasters, switched it to stun and started firing.

In the tight space of the alleyway the stormtroopers couldn't effectively respond to Ezra's sudden ambush and four troopers when down in a few moments. The last trooper however was standing over Sabine and while he wouldn't shoot into his squad he would use the mando girl as a hostage.

"Drop it rebel scum or she dies!" to help make his point he pushed his foot into Sabine's back as he kept his blaster aimed at her head.

Ezra had already taken out the rest of the troopers by then so it was just the two of them. Unfortunately the bucket-head had Sabine and reinforcements heading his way. The young padawan would have to wrap this up quickly and then get him and Sabine out of here.

Ezra tossed the blaster riffle aside and raised his hands up over his head. The trooper brought his blaster up from Sabine and pointed it at Ezra which is where the padawan wanted it if this didn't work out.

"Now turn around slowly and face me."

Ezra took a deep breath to calm his emotions and focused on the force before turning around. Even with a blaster aimed at him he was ready and at peace. The trooper's blaster was suddenly wrenched form his grip and went flying to Ezra's hands like it was a trained bird. The trooper was still shocked by this while Ezra raised the barrel and fired. This time it was not blue rings of stunning energy but a lethal bolt of red that hit the trooper. The man jerked like a puppet with tangled strings for moment before falling to the ground.

Ezra threw the blaster he used to kill that trooper away as if it was poisoned and ran to help Sabine. He draped one of her arms over his shoulders and let most of her weight fall on him as he picked her up. "Come on we're getting out of here even if I have to drag you."

Sabine nodded and took an awkward stumbling step while leaning on Ezra. The two of them couldn't go very fast or duck down any of the hidden paths that Ezra knew. So the only thing they could do was check to see that cost was clear before hurrying to the next alleyway.

Off in the the distance Ezra could hear the sounds of more Imperial patrols, hoverbikes and walkers joining the search. His comlink buzzed to life. "Specter One to Specters Five and Six come in. What's going on out there?"

Ezra quickly pulled Sabine into an abandoned factory building before picking up his comlink. "Our cover was blown and with Specter Five injured I don't think we'll be able to out run our pursuers."

"Hold your position and we'll pick you up."

An amused smile crossed Ezra' face at his master's words. There where times when even Kanan's emotions overran his judgment. "Master we can't stop moving and you can't help us by running blindly into this trap. The best thing you can do to help us is finish your mission." That was when the comline started to crackle as the Imperial's jammed the transmission.

Ezra and Sabine were now surround and cut off from the rest of their team. Ezra stated to think of way to get them out of this mess while Sabine moved slowly toward one of the far walls before sliding to the floor. She just laid there on the floor looking at her hands as she slowly opened and closed them. It looked like Sabine was in shock so Ezra went to help her. When he reached out to touch her hand she pulled away suddenly.

"It's alright Sabine. I just want to see if your hands were hurt."

Sabine raised her hands in front of her helmet's visor and stared at them. "My hand's are find but..." her voice got cough in her throat as she made a muffled sob.

Ezra placed his hands on Sabine's shoulder as if comfort her. "Whatever happened I'll get you through this, I promise."

Sabine removed her helmet with tremblingly hands. Her face was streaked with wet tears and when she talked her words were choked with pain. And her lovely brown eyes were now glazed over with a milky white fog. "Ezra, I can't see."

Sabine had been blinded by the explosion.

-end-

I don't think this counts as a cliffhanger because the tile foreshadowed that too much. When I was thing of 'What would be the worst thing that could happened to Sabine?' I got blindness. So now she all but helpless and feeling useless and has to rely on Ezra to get them both out of this mess that she got them into. It's significant that this was the result of Sabine's hubris as apposed to Ezra's recklessness.

Thinking about it Sabine's darkened visor of her helmet should have shielded her eyes from the flash that blinded her. I justify it by saying soldiers wear bullet-resistance vests not bulletproof vests. As all defensive armor can fail in the field and I don't see why mandalorians should be exempt for that reality.

Regardless my plan for this story is to have Sabine be a little humbled and for Ezra to use his street smarts and cunning to get them out of this. Also I may try my hand at speculations about who and what Ezra's parents were. (Maybe some fluffy Ezrabine moments later, if that's what we're calling the Ezra/Sabine ship)

Thank you for reading and please tell me what you thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Star War Rebels is owned by Disney and I make no money off this use of their intellectual property.

I don't know how New Years Day counts as a holiday but my work gave me the day off. Still everything around me was closed. So I thought I'd ride a wave of inspiration and next thing I knew I'd typed over four thousand five hundred words.

I may be doing too much, too soon, too fast.

Then again perhaps being ambitious and failing has it's own merits.

Thank you everyone for your kind words and the helpful critiques of my last chapter. I have also leveled up the category from Friendship to Romance.

I hope you all enjoy this.

Blind Trust

Part 2

By Slayzer

The factory had been one of the many local manufacturers on Lothal that had to closed after the Empire took over. The Empire had it's preferred manufacturers and anyone else was run out of business so they could control the market. Domination by market forces could be just as effect as force of arms.

Ezra was digging through a row of abandoned employ lockers. He soon found just what he was looking for, a pair of old dirty rain ponchos. 'These will be perfect.' Ezra thought as the sounds of Imperial patrols got closer.

Ezra found Sabine where he left her, huddled in a corner looking smaller then he had ever seen her. She sat there hugging her knees and resting her chin on top her folded arms with her blind eyes staring at nothing. Sabine was running over what had happened in her mind again and again.

It was such a simple thing that Sabine would have laughed if she didn't fell like sobbing. In her rush to set the last bomb she hadn't insulate it properly and that lapse had cost her her sight. A first year rookie explosive ordinance trainee would have known better. But she wasn't a rookie and knew what she was doing. In fact Sabine knew what she was doing so well that she didn't need to insulate her bombs before setting them.

It wasn't the bomb blast that blinded Sabine.

It was her pride.

Sabine was now living her worst nightmare, a world without color. No, she couldn't even call this living anymore. If she couldn't fight, or paint or even see colors then she might as well be dead.

'Death would be better then living like this.' Sabine thought sullenly as she hugged knees tighter. The weight of the cold steel of blasters on her hips felt even heaver. As if the weapons were reminding her that they were there and that there was a way for her out of this.

Ezra dropped the ponchos next to Sabine. The sudden movement and sound startled her. "Oh good, I thought for a moment you went deaf as well." he said jokingly.

"It was my helmet's photo-dampeners that failed not the audio-dampeners. So my hearing is just fine."

"Good, I need you to listen up because I got a plan to get us out of this."

Sabine buried her face in her knees. "We're not going to make it out of here Ezra."

"Come on, you haven't even heard my plan yet."

"No, Ezra. You can get yourself out of this but if you try to help me then I'll just get us both caught. The smart thing for you to do is to just leave me behind and escape on your own."

"Ha, the smart thing to do would have been to never sign on with you guys in the first place. Besides if I leave you here your sure to get caught and then the Empire well know everything you do. So you see I can't just let you get captured."

A small twisted and sickly smile appeared on Sabine's lips. For the sake of her friends she couldn't let the Empire take her alive. "Your right..." Sabine said as she let go of her knees and leaned back against the wall.

Ezra nodded happily as he thought he was getting through Sabine's depression. Then he saw Sabine draw one of her blasters and place the barrel up under her chin. With the Force heightening everyone of Ezra's senses he tackled Sabine before she could make a terrible mistake.

Sabine felt a strong hand pull the blaster away from her head. The blaster kick once as a bolt was discharged in the struggle. Then the warm weight of a human body pressed down on top of her. Arms held Sabine tightly as she and Ezra fell away from the wall.

The two teens hit the floor hard and rolled once.

Sabine was now flat on her back with Ezra laying on top of her. They stayed like that for several long moments as the reality of what Sabine had almost done hit her. The weight on top her shifted as Ezra sat up but he didn't move to get off of Sabine. He wanted to keep her pinned just in case she tried something again.

Ezra grabbed Sabine by the collar of her armor and shook her. "What the kriffing hell were you thinking!?"

Tears started to form in Sabine's blinded eyes as she looked up at nothing. "My getting caught would have endanger everyone else. This way I can still protect the team."

Ezra took a deep breath to calm himself. "Don't you dare put this on me and the others. Lie to yourself if you want to play at being a selfish coward but don't think you can lie to me! You weren't making some noble sacrifice for us, you were just running away! So you lost your sight but what's that next losing your family or the Jedi Order or the pain at losing your whole world? Your stronger then this Sabine! I know you are!"

Wet drops of water started to slashed against Sabine's cheeks.

It took her a moment to realize that they were tears Ezra was shedding for her. She could picture it so clearly in her mind, the sight of Ezra's blue eyes wet with tears. Those eyes that she felt on her when he thought she was unaware of him staring at her. The eyes she would gaze into when she was sure he was unaware of her watching him.

Ezra's expressive, warm and kind eyes that had become...

"...my favorite shade of blue." Sabine finished the thought out loud.

Ezra took a moment to wipe the tears from his eyes. "What did you say?"

"I was just thinking about the colors I'll never see it again."

"You don't know that."

"But you just said..."

"All I'm saying is self pity is poisonous to survival instincts and right now it's a luxury we can't afford. I also know in my heart that you are stronger then this tragedy." Ezra got up and helped pull Sabine to her feet. "Are you ready to hear me out on how I'll get both of us out of here."

Sabine thought about her situation more clearly and this time without the dark thoughts. Maybe her blindness was only temporary and maybe, just maybe, Ezra could get them out of this mess. Sabine resolved that no matter what happened next she wouldn't give up again. "Alright then Mr Street Smart Hero, how are we getting past those bucket-heads."

"We can't get past them so we even won't try."

"Okay I'm must be missing something because that sounds like giving up."

"The trick is just not be us when we're found. Put this on and I'll explain the rest." Ezra said as he tossed one of the ponchos to Sabine. The grimy filthy garment land on top of her and she threw it off immediately.

"Ugh, you know my sense of smell works fine. That thing reeks like something was born, live and then dead in it."

"Really, because I'd have guessed that several generations of somethings had lived and dead in these things. The point is the Empire is looking for a lone mandalorian but when they find us they'll just see two homeless dirty street orphans."

Sabine grimaced as she pulled the ratty poncho on over her armor. "How do you know this plan of yours will work?"

"I learned from a true master of disguise. If we look harmless and insignificance then the stormtroopers won't waste their time with us." Ezra said as he pulled on his own filthy poncho without much difficultly.

"And wearing these disgusting cloaks will make that happen?"

"They'll do half the work." Ezra said as he pried opened a rusted can of old oil. "Your going to hate this part more then the cloaks, but I'm going to give you the street urchin makeover."

-Capital City Imperial District-

Kanan and Zeb were hidden high on a rooftop and watched the Empire run around in circles. Well the lasat was watching them anyway. Kanan was pacing a hole in the rooftop worrying about his padawan. "We should go out there and look for them."

Zeb rolled his eyes as Kanan had been like that since Ezra called. "You want to go running around blindly in all that? Your big rescue plan is to get us both killed."

"I refuse to do nothing!"

"I'm not saying we do nothing but think about what the kid said for a moment Boss. 'If we want to help then finish the mission'. Now if you ask me and I say the kid's taken after you, cockeyed strategies and all. We blow that armory to Coruscant and every bucket-head in Lothal well be on us, that's when the kid and Sabine can make their escape."

Kanan thought about it and there was something to what Zeb was saying. If they went through with the mission then most of heat would be off Ezra and Sabine. Then again Ezra had said that Sabine was wounded so shouldn't getting to them be the priority.

Attack or Retreat?

Each choice the Rebels had carried major risks involved. Kanan clicked on his comlink. "What do you think Specter Two?"

Hera was standing by on the Phantom but she was keeping tabs on the team. "Ezra was a survivor long before becoming your Padawan, love. I'm also damn sure he won't let anything happen to Sabine."

There she was, Hera once again acting as Kanan's voice of reason when he was in doubt. More then the Force it was twi'lek woman who was a beacon of light to the Jedi when he felt lost.

"Okay we follow through with the mission plan with one major alteration. This isn't a stealth opp anymore. When we hit that armory we go in blasters blazing and cause such a ruckus that the Empire will think we kicked off the revolution here and now."

Kanan then assembled his lightsaber and glared meaningfully at the massive greyish white walls of weapons manufacturing plant in front of him.

Zeb gave a toothy grin and ready his bo-rifle. The boss was in rare form tonight and he could almost feel sorry of the bucket-heads that got in their way.

"Heh, almost." Zeb said to himself as he and Kanan waited for the rest of Sabine's bombs to blow. That would be their signal to attack.

-Abandoned Industrial Section-

Sabine flinched as Ezra rubbed two fistfuls of black goo into her once bright and colorful hair. She had put up with a lot from wearing that ratty poncho to covering her beloved mandalorian armor in dirt but this was pushing it. Now some nasty black goo was being worked deeply to her hair and scalp.

"What is this stuff anyway?" Sabine asked as Ezra made sure that every bit of her colorful hair was now an inky black.

Ezra looked at the rusted out can that this stuff came in. "I'm not sure and I don't think you really want to know anyway." Ezra wiped his hand on his coveralls as he had to look unwashed and dirty too.

Ezra then scrapped up some dirt and dust from the floor. "Now I just need to dirty up your face and we'll be done."

Sabine was about to say something when Ezra pushed his dirt covered hands against her cheeks. His fingers worked the dirt into her brow, chin and down her neck. Sabine now looked like she had been living out of a dumpster for the past year.

No one would ever think the blind street wretch before them was in fact a mandalorian rebel. Being blind this total transformation was lost on Sabine who just felt disgusting. "This is almost unbearable."

Ezra held Sabine's chin and turned her head from side to side to check over his work. Even covered in dirt he thought she was quite lovely. "Don't worry, your still beautiful." Ezra said honesty.

Now if it wasn't for the dirt covering Sabine's cheeks Ezra would have seen her blush red.

Didn't he know that it was when he wasn't trying to smooth with her that his words effected her the most? With a force of will Sabine banished those awkward feelings that more suited a teenage girl then a mandalorian warrior.

While she both of those things Sabine took pride in one and tried her hardest to deny the other.

Ezra gave himself and Sabine one last check to make sure they both looked the part of helpless street children. Ezra was in fact a street child but he hadn't been helpless for many years.

"Just try to look helpless and let me do all the talking."

Sabine felt for her blasters but Ezra had taken them along will her helmet. This wasn't going to be something they could shoot there way out of. Getting out of this alive meant playing her part and relying on Ezra's skills of deception.

One of Sabine's hands groped blindly for the reassuring feel of her blasters. "Ezra..."

Suddenly she felt Ezra take hold of her anxious hand and was surprised by how comforting the boy's touche was. "What is it Sabine?"

"I don't understand the Force so I can't trust in it the way you and Kanan do but I want you to know that I trust you. I have faith that you'll get us both home."

-The Streets Outside-

An Imperial lieutenant brought her transport to a stop and then lead a full squad of stormtroopers out into street. In her hand was a datapad showing thermal imaging from an airborne remote. There were two human shaped heat signatures in that abandoned factory. Orders were to sweep the area thoroughly for a rebel bomber and one of those signatures could be them.

An angry snarl crossed her otherwise fine face. 'More likely it's just going to be more vagrants and orphans. If we could just set fire to this part of the city then we could clean out all the homeless Lothrats like the vermin they are.'

The thoughts of mass murder and pyromania calmed the Lieutenant's rage as her troopers readied to raid the factory.

The point man blasted the rusted doors off there hinges. The rest of the squad flowed into the building just like they had done dozens of times throughout the night in their fruitless searching. The startled cries of two frightened children were so loud that the lieutenant could hear them for outside.

'Great it had to be children.' she thought sourly as she walked into the factory.

A stormtrooper came to attention as the lieutenant entered the building. "Area is secure ma'am."

'Secure from what?!' she thought at troopers report but she replied curtly. "Very good, what have you found."

"Two human children with no identification. It seems that they were taking shelter here. The girl also calms to be blind."

The lieutenant looked the two child over with that mix of pity and hatred that the powerful always had for the poor. That young girl would have been pretty but she seemed unwell as well as unwashed. It looked as if her oily black hair hadn't been clean in years and there was something about her eyes.

The boy was cowering in front of the girl as if to shield her. The lieutenant easy pushed him aside and looked the girl over. She took out a penlight and shone it in the girl's face."They tell my your blind little girl, how did it happen?"

Sabine's blinded eyes were indifferent to the bright light shining on them.

Ezra was at the lieutenant's side again in a moment. "She lost her vision due to malnutrition, she's been that way for over a year now."

Ezra got and elbow to the ribs for his trouble as the lieutenant turned her full attention on him. She had confirmed that the girl was as blind as an Exogorth so she couldn't be their rebel bomber. Still she was going to make someone suffer for this waste of time.

That poor boy had just volunteered himself.

Ezra groveled on the dirty floor in mock pain and fear. That also meant that they couldn't get a good look at his face. The Empire on Lothal didn't have a recorded of Sabine's face but because of Ezra's stunt at the Academy they had his face on file. All he had to do was convince them that he was both harmless and a waste of their time.

"Your trespassing you filthy Lothrat!" The lieutenant said as pushed her bootheel into Ezra's shoulder. The place had been abandoned for years and she couldn't care less about a charge of trespassing. It was a convenient excuse so she could have him beaten.

Ezra didn't break character for a moment and sob pleadingly with the lieutenant. "We didn't mean any harm, all we wanted was a place to stay. Please just don't call the children service department on us!"

"Children Services?! I have better things to do with my time then fill out paper work on vermin like you!"

Ezra almost breathed a sigh of relief.

Before the Empire gutted it Lothal's health and welfare system was top class and one Ezra Bridger was listed in it. As long as the Empire only had his face and not his name then Ezra could always stay a half step ahead of them.

'Or two steps with these idiots.' Ezra thought looking up at the female lieutenant. "Is something wrong ma'am?"

"Nothing a Lothrat like you needs to worry about. The power grids been sabotaged and several sectors of the city are having brownouts. We're under attack by terrorists and here I am wasting time with homeless vermin."

"Then maybe you should go fight those terrorists and let us just move along."

It wasn't the Jedi mind trick but Ezra knew how to manipulable people without the Force. The trick of it was to get them to have the realization that you want them to have.

Like your time is best spent somewhere else.

The lieutenant was considering Ezra's words when her comlink buzzed with a propriety message.

"This is TK-21377 at the munitions plant! We are under heavy attack by a Jedi and Lasat! The outer gates have fallen and we can't hold them back! Help us, that Jedi is like a of force of nature unleas...!" The stormtrooper's communique was suddenly cut off.

A loud boom from off in the distances shook the windows of the factory. Kanan and Zeb had begun their raid on the armory. In fact not only were they attacking the armory but it sounded like those two were intent on wreaking as much of the Empire's shit they could while they were at it.

The Lieutenant pocketed her comlink and then turned to face her team. "We redeploying to the armory!"

"But our orders were to search this area." said a trooper.

"And we found nothing but vagrants and bums for all our trouble. Now we know where our enemy is we and will go bring the wrath of the Empire down on them! That is unless your a coward and want to keep digging through dumpsters all night?"

The squad of Stormtroopers railed around their lieutenant and made ready to head out. Ezra was at the lieutenant's waist like a begging child in a heartbeat. "What about us!? Your not going to tell anyone we were here are you!?"

The lieutenant shoved Ezra away so hard that he landed on the floor next to Sabine.

"I don't have time to deal with trash like you!" she said before quick marching her stormtroopers out the door.

Ezra and Sabine didn't make move until they both knew they were in the clear.

After hearing the sounds of the transport's hoverjets Sabine couldn't help but laugh out loud. Ezra smiled at first and then joined Sabine in laughing as the Imperials left them alone. The two of them just laid next to each other there laughing like children for several long minutes.

Ezra got up first and then help Sabine to her feet. He then slipped something over Sabine's wrist after helping her up.

"What's this?" Sabine asked as her fingers played with the fine sliver chain now wrapped around her wrist.

"Think of it as a souvenir. I lifted it off that schutta of a lieutenant while I was stealing her comlink. Maybe that stuff isn't to your taste but I think it suits you."

"Why would you think jewelry is not to my taste?" Sabine asked as she let her fingers play with the chain bracelet.

"I just always thought your favorite things in life were paints and things that go boom."

"So you noticed that. Even so a practical mandalorian girl like me can appreciate the finer things as well."

"I'll keep that in mind." Ezra said as he disabled the tracer in the stolen comlink. It won't be able to transmit anymore but it could still receive. "Now we can keep tabs on Imperials transmissions and stay a few steps ahead of them."

"Think we'll be able to meet up with the Ghost?"

"No, if Kanan's still going by the plan then Hera will pick him and Zeb up and then the'll head for hyperspace. You and I will be on our own for a few days at the very lest."

Sabine reached out and placed a hand on Ezra's shoulder. "Lead on then."

So with Ezra out in front and with Sabine behind him while holding onto his shoulder two teenage headed back out into the night.

It was much easier to get around this time. No one even looked twice at them while disguised as a pair of poor homeless wretches. Also with the stolen comlink in his ear Ezra could keep them away from any check points or patrols.

Still it was a big city and they were slowly moving around on foot.

This gave Sabine some more time for reflection of recent events. It felt like she was missing something.

Something had happened just after the blast that blinded her.

Sabine played it over again in her mind.

First there was the explosion and then the Stormtroopers found her. Ezra saved her from them, she didn't know how but she could hear the sound of stun blasters. Something about that sounds of that firefight bothered her.

It was the sound of the last shoot being fired. It wasn't of a stun blast but a regular blaster bolt.

Sabine realized that Ezra had killed someone to protected her.

She stopped cold and let go of Ezra.

"What's wrong?"

"When were you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"The fight in the alleyway. Ezra the last shot fired wasn't a stun shot was it?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Ezra said turning away from Sabine and for a moment, just for a moment, he considered leaving her there.

"Did you kill that stormtrooper?"

"I don't know, maybe I did and maybe I didn't!" he stopped and saw again how the man dance oddly like a broken doll before falling to the ground. Ezra took a deep breath and when he talked it was with a new hardened pain in his voice. "Yes, I killed him. I took his blaster, aimed it at him and fired. I killed a man before I even knew what I was doing."

Sabine took two quick steps toward Ezra's voice and wrapped her arms around around him. Sabine was now hugging Ezra from behind and she whispered into his ear. "I'm so sorry that I put in a place where you had to make that decision."

Even being covered in dirt and wearing a filthy poncho the feeling of Sabine's arms around him felt so warm. Ezra started to believe that the best place in the whole galaxy was right here in between Sabine's arms.

"You know I was seven when the Empire took my parents from me. I felt so useless and weak and I swore I'd never feel that away again. So for years I never let anyone get close to me, I thought that if I never cared about anyone I wouldn't get hurt like that again. That all changed after I meet Kanan and you guys. Then that trooper was about to kill you and I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't lose someone else I lov... someone else I care about. Still I knew that joining up you guys would have a body count involved. I knew that the Empire couldn't be stopped by passivise or peaceful means. I knew all that but I had never taken a life like that before, it felt so wrong."

"The first time is hard and it can change you in a bad way if you don't deal with it. I just want you to know I may be blind but I still got your back. If nothing else you can talk to me about it and I can listen. Listening may be all I'm good for now anyway."

Ezra smirked and pulled out of Sabine's hug before guiding her along. At a better place and time Ezra would take Sabine up on that offer. Right now there was still things he had to do to get them out of this mess. "You know neither of us are doctors so I wouldn't go and give up on your sight already."

"You think I'll see again?"

"I think we should ask a real doctor and that's where we're going."

Sabine was a bit stunned. "Hold it, if we go to a hospital they'll need to know how I was blinded an make an official report. Even you can't bluff past that."

"I said I'm taking to a doctor not a hospital. Don't worry, this doctor was an old friend of my parents. She's even help me a few times after I got busted on the streets. She's also no friend to the Empire so we won't have to worry about that."

"There's a 'but' coming soon isn't there."

"She is a bit eccentric with a awful sense of humor but I think she's our best chance at healing your vision."

-end-

Well this was little more grim then I thought at frist. Sabine's near suicide being the darkest thing here. Maybe you think that made her seem weak or fragile and she isn't those things. To me suicide never seemed to be about personal weakness or not loving life but making a poor and permanent choice in a critical moment. (apologizes to anyone who ever dealt with that tragedy if this made you uncomfortable.)

Thanks to Major Winters 101st for the idea Ezra dealing with killing that Stormtrooper. Well I think he and Kanan killed some troops already with when those sabotaged disruptors went boom. This time was an up close and personal thing so I think I would have a greater impact on Ezra.

Now let's talk about fun things.

In the short novel "Ezra's Gamble" our street smart hero once teamed up with Bossk the bounty hunter before joining the rebels. In it the fearsome Trandoshan teaches Ezra the ins and outs of being a master of disguise.

So did anyone else like Ezra and Sabine getting all dirty? What am I going to do with those dirty, filthy, nasty teenagers!?

Maybe a bubble bath?

Next part we meet a fan character (I just lost half of you didn't I?) who fills the role of Ezra's doting pseudo-auntie. Bridger speculations abound in the next chapter as well. Not so much what happened to them but what kind of people I think Mira and Ephraim were. (or still are if their not dead)

I may have Kanan do a Starkiller impersonation and just have him wreak the Empire's shit like a Boss.

Thank you for reading and I hope you'll leave comment.


	3. Chapter 3

Star Wars Rebels is owned by Disney and I make no money off this use of their intellectual property.

I was afraid in the last chapter that Sabine's near suicide would have turned some of you off. I'm glad to see that wasn't the case.

I am however worried that so many of commented on my author's notes. The line about 'Dirty, filthy nasty teenagers' has been much discussed it seems and includes some speculation about and M rated chapter.

Well if your worried/hopeful about that then I'm going to have to reassure/disappoint you that the most I have planed for Ezra and Sabine is kissing.

Maybe some cuddling.

Well see.

(about the cuddling not the sex)

Blind Trust

Part 3

By Slayzer

-Capital City Residential Area-

Ezra and Sabine made their way out of the industrial district and into a residential section of the city. Picturesque but modest three story homes line paved sidewalks in a the well to do neighborhood. Every home was near clone of it's neighbor and it all looked so very peaceful and safe.

Ezra knew better then to trust in that facade. Unlike the long abandoned industrial district the Empire kept close eyes on the homes and families of the city.

Everyone knew what would happen to families for speaking out against the Empire. Even the suspicion of disloyalty could be enough make whole families disappear. If the New Order ushered in a age of peace to the galaxy then it was a peace paid with fear.

This was just a jail pretending to be a neighborhood.

Also an issue now was the 'poor orphan' disguises that they wore. Those filth covered rags let them blend with the urban decay before but now they stood out to much in this suburban area.

Ezra wasn't taking any chances as he kept himself and Sabine empty parking lots and back alleyways. This was a roundabout way to get there but they made it to the good doctor's privet home without raising any suspicions.

Or at lest Ezra hoped they did.

Even in the dark Doctor Valerie's home was easy to recognize. In a place were row after row of houses were all just a slightly different shade of off white. There was only one woman who dared paint her home bright yellow.

Ezra and Sabine huddled next to the door's intercom panel. Ezra hesitated with his finger on the 'call' button.

"Look I don't want to get this person involved too deeply. So let's keep the rebel talk to a minimum."

Sabine nodded as she could appreciate not wanting to drag innocent people into their fight. "Understood, I'll keep her in the dark."

"Also..." Ezra's voice lowered a bit. "...whatever happens here just please don't laugh."

Sabine was a little confused. "Laugh? Ezra, I'm blind, covered in filth and somewhere out there our friends are fighting for their very lives. I doubt that I could find anything happening right now to be funny."

Ezra pushed the call button. "Just remember you said you wouldn't laugh."

The call box's view screen turned on and the sleepy face of a human woman in her late thirty's with curly blonde hair appeared on the screen. The woman yawned loudly before speaking. "The clinic is closed for the night. I'm going to have to ask you to comeback in the morning after making an appointment."

"Doctor Valerie, it's me Ezra."

Valerie rubbed some sleep out of her eyes and took a hard looked at the boy through the video screen. "Is that really you little Ezra?"

"Yes it's me and I need your help."

Valerie folded her arms and turned away from the monitor. "No that can't be right. If you were my dear little Ezra then you'd know how to ask me for a favor."

Ezra growled in frustration. "I'm in a bit of a crisis here and your making me do that!?"

Doctor Valerie kept her back toward the boy and continued to ignoring him.

It seemed that Ezra would have no choice. He took a deep breath and then gave the doctor a smile so bright that it could lite up a room. "Ezzy needs some help from his favorite Auntie-Wantie."

Valerie turned off the com but they could here her running through the house to get to the door to help her little Ezzy.

Ezra felt sick and this was why he couldn't stand that woman. Valerie couldn't understand that he wasn't the same helpless kid he was before. His parent's disappearance and years on the streets had changed all that.

Changed him.

Sabine tried and failed to stifle an amused chuckle.

"You said you wouldn't laugh." Ezra said through grit teeth.

Sabine held up a hand as if to apologies but she couldn't stop chuckling. "I said didn't think I'd be able to find anything funny. I was wrong, Ezzy."

"You are never calling Ezzy ever again."

The doorway opened and Doctor Valerie pulled Ezra into a back breaking hug. Being such a late hour the good doctor was dressed in a burgundy nightgown and fuzzy slippers. "My sweet little Ezzy, you've come to visit!" she stopped when she noticed how dirty he was. "What have you been up too? You haven't been living out of a garbage compactor have you?"

Ezra pulled off the dirty rain poncho he had been wearing. "No, but if you don't have a stealth field generator then looking as poor and dirty as you can is a good second best for being invisible."

"So I take it your in a bit of trouble again."

"More then a bit but I'm not here for myself. My friend Sabine here is the one who needs your help."

Sabine removed her own poncho and blindly extended a hand in front of her. "Hello."

Doctor Valerie took Sabine's hand and with a pull like a bantha dragged the girl into her home. Ezra took a moment to drop the ruined ponchos he and Sabine had wore for half the night into a dumpster before entering the doctor's home. Her home had a smell of antiseptic about it as Valerie ran a small clinic out of one of the rooms.

Ezra looked around the brightly lit and well furnished living room. It hadn't changed much since he was here last with that broken arm. A towel hit Ezra's head and he turned to see the doctor who threw it return to busily scrubbing Sabine's face clean.

"How did you get yourself so dirty?" A little hard scrubbing later and Sabine's face was clean but the towel couldn't do anything for her oil-slicked hair. "I'll draw you a nice hot bubble bath so you can get cleaned up properly."

"Thank you but Ezra didn't bring me here to take advantaged of your hospitality."

Valerie nodded gravely "I understand, it's Ezra's fault your here now isn't it. I can't believe my little Ezzy could be so reckless."

"No, it wasn't like that. Ezra and me are partners but what happened was because of my carelessness. The only reason I'm even here now is because of Ezra. "

Doctor Valerie sighed and put her hands on Sabine's shoulders to comfort the girl. "I want you to know there are only two things I don't do. The first thing I don't do is judgments and the second thing is abortions." The doctor then placed one of her hands to Sabine's tummy. "So how far along are you with your pregnancy or is your period late and only your here for a test?"

Sabine blindly slapped the Valerie's hand away and then backed away. "Ezra! Just where in the dark side have you brought me!?"

Valerie looked a bit stunned. "Huh, your not pregnant? Then why would Ezra bring his cute girlfriend to an OB/GYN in the middle of the night?"

Sabine was now on the verge of fainting.

Ezra felt the headache coming on when ever he had to deal with his 'auntie' Valerie. "Sabine's not pregnant and she's not my girlfriend. Also, for the love the Force, stop with the jokes for five minutes. Sabine's been through enough of an ordeal even without your humor."

Valerie smiled and backed off a bit. "Fine but it's so rare to see a mandalorian freak out."

"So your not an obstetrician?" Sabine asked.

"I am a Obstetrician, Gynecologist and a Pediatrician as well. I helped the Bridgers deliver Ezra and then I was their family doctor for years until..." she paused here as this part of story didn't need to spoken out loud. "Anyway I can show you all the holos I have Ezra as a little baby until he seven. Well I can show them to you after your temporary blindness heals."

Sabine's heart skipped a beat at the doctor's words. "Did you say my blindness was only temporary?"

Valerie pulled open one of Sabine's eyelids and looked at her glazed eyes. "I've seen wounds like this lots of times, usually after someone won a staring contest with flash grenade. With proper medical treatment you'll be seeing again in a couple of days."

Emotions that Sabine wasn't even aware she was holding almost burst out of her at the news. She would be able to see and make art again. "Thank you doctor."

Valerie pulled Sabine into a loose hug. "Please call me Valerie. Now then deary how about we get you out of the armor and into a nice warm bath." She then started to push the girl toward the bathroom. "Ezzy while I'm always happy to help you out I will need compensation."

"The usual then method?"

Valerie nodded. "You can find 'it' on the bookshelf just like last time. I'll leave the rest to your discretion."

"Fine but let me get myself cleaned up a bit."

Valerie had just guided Sabine though the bathroom doorway when the doctor popped her head out. "Oh and absolutely no peeping in on Sabine while she's in the bath."

"I don't need to be told that!" Ezra's said as he turned away and his dark face blushed red.

Doctor Valerie looked on as if confuse by something. "Huh, you mean to don't want to see Sabine all soapy and naked?"

Ezra lost his footing and did a face-plant right into the middle of the doctor's living room.

-Imperial Munitions Factory-

Imperial walker pilot VT-58712 was living a nightmare.

He was the last walker standing in an open lot in front of the factory. The two other walkers in his squad were burning husks among the bodies of dozens of Imperial troops. There came a great roar as yet another warehouse blew up as the volatiles stored there caught fire. This all carnage however was just the battlefield and not the nightmare.

No the nightmare was the one who had caused this and it was just one person.

"It's just one man isn't!? He is just one man, right!?" VT-58712 yelled at his monitor as his target easily deflected the walker's blaster canon.

Every shot that should have reduced that man in green shirt with the arm mounted armor to a scorched mark was batted away by the man's glowing blue lightsaber. He deflected those shots with an almost terrifying accuracy. Shots that should have killed him were deflected to other Imperial forces or right back at the walker itself.

This was only possible because the man that the walker was shooting at wasn't just a man but a Jedi.

Kanan was in rare form tonight and he felt the Force flowed through him like a cosmic river of power.

There was now only one walker left in Kanan's way. When he ran at it he moved so fast you'd think repulsers were built into his boots. Each stride carried Kanan at lest a dozen feet closer to the walker. He was dodging left and right while moving so fast that the blaster canon couldn't get a clean shot in.

Kanan then used a Force jump to take him the last dozen yards to the walker. With his blue lightsaber he cut through one of the walkers legs as he sailed past.

VT-58712 screamed as his walker stated to tip over and knew there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop it. Strangely as all this happened the Imperial pilot thought of all the farmers he'd help evict off their land. The hopeless looks on the faces of men, women and children when several tons of Imperial weaponry told them their lives as they knew them were over.

Why had he never thought about those people before now?

The walker suddenly stopped falling as if something was holding it up. This should be imposable and some instinct told VT-58712 to brace himself.

Kanan took a deep breath as he used the Force to hold the one legged walker up over his head. There was a convoy of troop transports rushing toward Kanan and he knew just how to greet them. It took a great deal of effort to Force push the walker but once it was airborne momentum and gravity did the rest.

To the lead drivers of the transports it looked like a one legged walker did an acrobatic back flip. It was so awe inspiring that they didn't react fast enough to the fact that several tons of machinery was now flying at them.

The crash was spectacular with the walker crushing the lead transport before bouncing off and into the second one. The rest of the transports then smashed into each other as they piled up into a huge mess.

Kanan took exhaled a breath he had been holding in and looked around him. As a padawan his master told him that restraint was the way of the Jedi. Then again every rule has a few exceptions.

A squad of bucket-heads rounded a corner of one of the transports and started shooting at Kanan. Before the Jedi could even draw his own blaster two shots from a high angle cut down two troopers.

"Nice shooting Zeb." Kanan said into his ear comlink as he blasted a stormtrooper who was distracted by the lasat's snipping.

From up high on a rooftop of the factory Zeb sighted another trooper with his bo-rifle and fired. Throughout the battle he had been providing Kanan with covering fire so the Imperials couldn't overwhelm him.

Zeb's left ear twitched at the sound of approaching stormtrooper boots. "Sorry Kanan but I'm going to be busy soon. Well you be alright on your own for a spell?"

"I'll manage."

Zeb turned from his snipping perch and faced a door that lead to a stairwell. He switched his bo-rifle to it's bo-staff form and grinned viciously.

The stairway door opened and a line of stormtroopers charged froward. Zeb got the point man with upward swing of his staff and took and the second guy with the retuning downward swing. The third trooper wasn't even up the last stair when Zeb jabbed him with the electrified end of his staff. With a mighty shove the lasat pushed the third trooper into the fourth and down the stairs. A dozen more stormtroopers went down like a long row of angry white dominoes.

Zeb tossed on of Sabine's 'gifts' on top of the heap of troopers. "Here you go boys, a gift from my friend who couldn't be here but sends her regards anyway." He then walked out of the stairwell and covered his ears. The blast the followed blew out the doorway and collapse the stairwell.

Zeb clicked his com. "Hera I'm going to need a pickup from the roof. I sort of blew up the stairwell."

The familiar angry scream of ion engines was all the warning the lasat got before a flight of three TIE fighters strafed the rooftop. Zeb ducked and rolled and then returned fire with his bo-rifle but he might have well have been spiting at them for all the damage he could do.

"Hera I'm going to need the ride really soon!" Zeb yelled into his com as the trio of TIE fighters came back around.

Red bolts of blaster fire took out the left most TIE as the Phantom came swooping in out of the dark sky.

Valen Rudor's scanners showed nothing as his left wingman burst into flame. "This is LS-607 we're being engaged by a stealth equipped ship and requesting addition forces." Rudro then swung his TIE back around and got a visual of the Phantom as it took out his other wingman. Green blaster fire nicked the Phantom's right wing but the little ships deflectors took most of the damage.

"Scanner jammers and deflector shields, just how much of a coward are you!?" Rudor yelled as continued firing on the Phantom.

The Phantom pitched and rolled as Hera dogged the TIE's blaster fire. "This guy's not that bad for a TIE jockey." Hera said as she switched her deflectors to double front and then flipped the Phantom around in a tight 180 degree spin so she was now flying backwards with Rudor's TIE in her sights. Rudor was startled when he saw this that he had his left hexagonal wing blown off before he could recover.

The Twi'lek had proved that she was not only a great pilot but an excellent shot as well. "Your not bad Imp but your not that good either." Hera said on an open channel as Rudor made a crash landing into a row of parked hovercars.

Hera enjoyed her triumph for a moment before her scanners showed a dozen more TIE fighters on their way. "While not much for quality then Empire sure dose love it's quantity. Play times over boys, it's time to go."

Kanan was hip deep in a group of stormtroopers with his lightsaber hewing off limbs and heads with each swing. "You don't honestly think I'm enjoying this do you?"

Zeb jumped into the Phantom's open back ramp as Hera brought the ship down near Kanan. The lasat leaned out the open hatch and once again gave Kanan some covering fire. "What, your not having even the teeniest bit of fun?"

Kanan used the Force to lift an large empty shipping container and then threw at and the next wave of bucket-heads. The container bounced once then rolled with the momentum and crushed most of the incoming troopers.

Yes, there was a part of Kanan that loved this. The part of all Jedi that the dark side pulls on in battle or stress. The part of Kanan that wanted the Empire to feel is some small way what Order 66 was like.

The souffle of boots brought Kanan and his lightsaber whipping around behind him but he stopped himself before he could strike. It was only the staggered walker pilot VT-58712 who had somehow crawled out of the burning wreck of his walker.

Jedi and Imperial looked at each other for a long moment. VT-58712 then pulled off his helmet and let it fall to the ground. "I don't want to do this anymore."

Kanan deactivated this his lightsaber and turned his back on the lone Imperial as Hera brought the Phantom in for a landing. There was no point in killing a soldier who lost the will to fight. In fact throughout the raid Kanan had let any stormtroopers who had retreated do so even when he could have killed them easily.

For even in the heat of battle a Jedi must have restraint and mercy for his enemy. For without that then he was no better then a Sith and the Jedi Order and all it's teachings would mean nothing.

Kanan boarded the Phantom and strapped in across from Zeb as Hera took off like a mynock out of the dark side.

The Phantom would rendezvous and the dock with the Ghost as Chopper already had the it in orbit. Then the Rebels would burn sky until then saw lines and leave Lothal behind for a few days.

Maybe a full week just to be safe.

-Doctor Valerie's Home-

'Mandalorians don't like bubble baths.' Sabine chided herself as she stretched out in the Doctor's luxurious therapeutic bathtub.

Hot soapy water washed away the night's dirt as water jets massaged her aching sore body. The scented oils rushed up her nose with every breath and helped relaxed her even more. From outside Sabine could hear soothing clear music playing from the living room. Other then her blindness it was as if everyone one of Sabine's senses were being pampered.

The mandalorain girl sighed in defeat before dipping her oily black hair under the water. 'So I miss having a nice hot bath every now and then.'

A few moments later and Sabine heard the bathroom door open and close. She sat up with her arms covering herself but being blind she couldn't see if someone walked in or not.

"Who's there!?"

Seconds ticked away and even if she couldn't see anyone Sabine could feel someone in the room with her.

Was it Ezra watching her?

Sabine reached for a decorative soap to throw at her voyeur when Doctor Valerie spoke up. "It's just me deary. I thought you could use some help with washing that gunk out of your hair." Valerie had also changed out of her night robe and into a proper white doctor's coat.

Sabine sighed with relief. "Why didn't you speak up sooner?"

"And miss seeing a Mando freak out again?"

"I didn't freak out."

"Of course not, you were just getting ready to defend yourself in the traditional mandalorain art of soap throwing."

Sabine placed the little decorative soap that was clucked her in fist back in it's little dish. "Anything can be a weapon in the hands of a Mandalorain."

"I don't doubt it. I've also cleaned your armor but you'll be too conspicuous in it so I brought you an old hand me down dress."

"Ugh, what else will I have endure tonight?"

"Well considering that your run in with an electrical overload only temporarily blinded you and didn't fuse your colorful mando armor to your lovely skin, not a lot." Valerie said siting down next to the bathtub and began rubbing some shampoo into Sabine's hair.

"You see a lot of battlefield wounds delivering babes?"

Valerie smiled sadly as she lathed up Sabine's oil-slicked hair. "When I was in the medical corps of the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars I saw some truly horrible things."

"You fought in the Clone Wars?"

"Yes, despite the name not everyone was a clone. In the fist years most clones were soldiers so the medical corps were still non-clones. The idea was we'd be tucked away safely behind our lines but in war the wounded tend to be where the fighting is. We'd load up on gunships and ride fire into the worst of it to save the lives of men that most people thought were replaceable. The greatest honor I earned in the war was when the clones stated calling me Sister. Well once we stated getting fazed out by clone medics I took my Republic scholarship and became an OB/GYN. I had seen enough death and now I wanted to see some life come into the universe."

Sabine got quite as she realized that the hands washing her hair had once held so much death and life in them. So maybe Valerie had a right to be a little weird. "So you came to Lothal after the war?"

"Yes, during the clone wars a lot of people headed for the outer rim and neutral worlds to escape the fighting."

"Is that how you meet the Bridgers?"

"Why do you want to know about them?" There was an edge to the doctor's voice that hadn't been there before Sabine asked that question.

"Ezra doesn't talk about his family."

"Then I won't either. It's painful for him but it's a pain he bears privately."

"It's just after we found Tseebo I tried to get Ezra to talk about this family and I know it's hard for him. I just thought if I knew more about them then I could ask Ezra about it without hurting him."

"You've meet Tseebo? Did Ezra still call him 'Uncle Seebee'."

Sabine could image the little boy Ezra from the picture she found playing with his rodian uncle 'Seebee' and that thought made her a little sad. "No, he didn't but after he seemed better as if a burden had been lifted."

"So you want to help Ezra get better at dealing with his past."

"Yes it's important that he deals with that and I just want to know how to help him."

Valerie got quite for a long while as she washed Sabine's hair. Then after thinking it over long and hard the doctor leaned in close to Sabine's ear as if to share some dark secrete.

"Ezra get's 'It' from his mother Mira."

Even in the hot bath a chill ran down Sabine's spine. What was 'It' that the doctor spoke of and just how much did she know about Ezra. Sabine didn't want to let anything slip so she played dumb. "What did Ezra get from his mother?"

Valerie seemed to measure Sabine answer before continuing. "His musical talent, don't you hear Ezra playing a lightwave-lyre."

Sabine had not forgotten about the music in the background but she thought it was a recording. "Your kidding, that's Ezra playing out there?"

"No I'm no kidding and that really is Ezra. His mother Mira was a talented musician and once Ezra was big enough she'd put him in her lap and teach him to play. He took it like a natural and was quite the little musical prodigy. For his first few years on the street Ezra kept himself feed by busking but he gave it up some years ago. I'm impressed that he can still play so well even without any practice for so long. I make him play something for me every time he needs a favor."

"I had no idea." Sabine said learning something new about specter six.

"That was how Ephraim and Mira meet. Ephraim was a broadcast engineer and worked on many of the old communication towers around Lothal. They meet and fell in love after he did the sound work on one of Mira's concerts. It didn't hurt that Ephraim was very smooth he can could turn on the charm when he need to."

"Ha, that's something Ezra got from his dad then." Sabine said with a smile at the thought of Ezra's smooth talking and charming smile.

Valerie smiled along with Sabine at the thought of happier times with her lost friends. "Anyway I've cleaned your hair and the towels are next to you and I've laid out a dress you can wear. I've also washed your uninteresting and utilitarian undergarments."

"Hey!"

The doctor stopped at the door before and turned around. "Will you be alright getting yourself dressed?"

Sabine had already gotten out of the bath and wrapped a fuzzy towel around her wet body. "I won't need your help with that."

"Right." Valerie then left but then stuck her head back in. "So instead of me would you like Ezra to help you get dress then?"

The doctor had to duck as a decorative soap bar came flying at her with stunning accuracy considering that the person throwing it was blind.

-An hour before in Doctor Valerie's living room-

Ezra finished toweling off his face as he steeped out of the guest room. He didn't need the full scrub down like Sabine but he made use of a change of clothes the doctor had on hand. Ezra was now dressed in blue jeans with an orange colored shirt and a dark blue jacket.

Ezra took a moment to look around Valerie's shelves. Place in high prominence was large picture of a young Valerie with short hair wearing white armor and surrounded by a group of men who all had the same face and similar armor. The picture was sighed in the lower right, 'From your clone Brothers to our womb born Sister'.

Other important mementos from her life in Grand Army of the Republic was the helmet she wore, it had a medic emblem on the side. There was a DC-17 hand blaster that was a gift from a ARC Captain after Valerie saved his life after an ambush.

Then he found what he was looking for. A flat wooden box that he knew by sight and feel. Ezra took the box and sat down on a sofa before opening it. In it was his mother's lightwave-lyre. The lyre was a sweeping curved piece of white ceramic with a blue gems affixed at each end. Once he held it in his lap the two gems projected a thin veil of gossamer light between them that filled the curve of the lyre.

With his left hand bracing the Lightwave-lyre Ezra ran the fingers of his right hand through the veil of light. Vibrant colors blossomed from each place his fingers touched and those color waves instantly became crystalline clear sounds waves.

Ezra could feel arms warp around him lovingly as hands, her hands, guided his fingers through the Lyre. "Do you want mommy to teach how to play?"

Mira's voice was so clear and so strong that Ezra almost thought she was in the room with him. This was why Ezra hated to play this damn instrument. He felt so connected with his mother but she was gone and thinking about it just hurt so badly.

Then why didn't he just get rid of it?

Why did he give it Valerie instead of pawning it for some quick credits?

Because no matter how painful it was to Ezra this was a powerful connection to his mother and he couldn't throw it way. He didn't want to lose it no matter how much it hurt.

Ezra's eyes started to water and he had to take a moment to wipe away some tears.

After clearing his mind and putting his heart at ease Ezra began to play. Clear powerful music fulled the whole house as Ezra played whatever piece came to mind. In an odd way it was the opposite of the Jedi mediation Kanan had shown him.

The mediation technique that Kanan had Ezra do was about focusing inward on his emotions and building a connection with the Force. Playing the lightwave-lyre was about the music and purging those emotions inside him. In was a focus of a different sort as Ezra played and he let his mind go blank and let the music take him where it wanted.

Ezra must have been in the zone because he didn't even realize how much time had past until Sabine found him.

Sabine had finished her bath and was now wearing a yellow dress that was cinched at her waist with a belt and the dress's hemline that came down to her knees. The sliver chain bracelet that Ezra had lifted off that Imperial was on her right wrist. Also different about Sabine was her hair dye had come out with the oil in the scrubbing leaving her with her natural brunette coloring.

"I didn't know you were a musician, Ezra." Sabine said as she slowly felt her way into the living room.

Ezra put down the lightwave-lyre and returned it to it's case. "My mother was a musician, I just know how to play a little."

"More then a little if you ask me."

Ezra smiled as he guessed that what Sabine said was true. "Well I learned I could make more credits picking pockets then I could playing music on the street." Ezra turned to face Sabine and saw the second transformation she had undergone in that night. "Whoa."

"What, you never seen a girl in a dress before?"

"Well you do look lovely but it's more then the dress. I mean I knew you didn't actuality have blue hair but I didn't know you were a brunette."

"Harr'chak! It will take me forever to get my hair back to the way I like it." Sabine exclaimed with a manda'o curse.

"Well your hair doesn't look bad or anything."

"That's the problem that my hair doesn't look like anything. My hair color is so plain that it might as well have been issued to me by the Empire."

Ezra returned the lightwave-lyre's case to the shelve. "There are many things that make you spectacular Sabine and your hair color is the lest of them."

Valerie walked in from the upstairs. "Ezra is also partial to brunettes so maybe you should leave it as is." she enjoyed the sight of both teens blushing red as they found the ceiling suddenly compelling. Teasing those two was just the most fun she had in weeks. "I've fix up the guest room so you two can spend the rest of the night here."

"What do you think Sabine?"

"Well I think I've been through the worst of Valerie's jokes so staying the night should be fine."

Then came a loud banging noise from the front door as an angry voice came over the intercom. "Open up! On the authority of the Empire we have the right to search these premises."

Valerie checked the video feed as saw an Imperial officer in black with a group of stormtroopers on her doorstep.

"Is there a back way out of here?" Sabine asked.

"Don't bother. They wouldn't have announced themselves if they didn't have all the exits covered." Valerie went to her shelf and grabbed the DC-17 she kept in working order and tucked it behind her doctor's coat. "Don't worry. I haven't lost a patient since the war and I'm not about to start."

Ezra's mind was working overtime and he suddenly had an idea. "I got it! Valerie where did you put Sabine's armor?"

"It's in a duffel bag in the examination room?"

"Great, just keep them distract for a few minuets." Ezra then took Sabine's hand and ran for the examination room that was adjacent to the living room. Valerie didn't know what Ezra's plan was and she didn't have time to wonder as her front door was blasted open.

An Imperial officer marched in with four stormtroopers behind him. "We're searching this house."

Valerie walked up to the officer. "What for?"

"You've been taking in Lothrats again haven't you? Well a squad of stormtroopers was ambushed by two little Lothrats and we think your hiding them here."

"I'm a doctor and I'll help anyone who comes to see me but I haven't seen any terrorist lately."

"You will speak to me with respect!"

"You should earn some then."

"Schutta!" The Imperial officer then slapped Valerie across the face. "You Clone War vets are all like. Thinking your all so much better and crying for the 'good old days' of the Republic."

Valerie didn't even wince at the hit. "It's not that I miss the 'good old days' in fact they weren't always so good. It's just makes me sad to see the army that once fought for the ideals of freedom now reduced to kicking helpless family off their land and gunning down unarmed protestors."

The officer was now livid and about to do something rash.

-Examination Room-

Ezra found the duffel bag and dugout Sabine's mando helmet and set it aside. "Look we got to work fast so I need you to do whatever I ask no questions. First I need you to take off your belt."

"What?"

"Sabine! I don't have time right now and I'm not letting aunty get dragged into this." Ezra said as he found some soft towels in a cabinet.

Sabine could tell that Ezra was worried about Valerie because he had just called her aunty without noticing it. The odd doctor was family to Ezra and now they had literally brought the Empire to her door. They couldn't let anything happen to her.

Sabine quickly undid her belt and let her dress now flow loosely around her. "What next?"

Ezra wrapped Sabine's helmet up in a few towels making a large ball. "Well that depends on how good you are are acting."

-back in the living room-

The Imperial office was about to do something rash when a girl's pained yell filled the house.

The door to the Examination room opened and two teens walked out. Well the boy walked out the girl was leaning on him heavily. Then they noticed that the brunette girl in the yellow dress was holding her massive swollen belly.

The girl was clearly pregnant.

The dark skinned raven haired boy at her side looked pleading at Valerie. "Doctor you have to came back, the contractions are getting worse."

The girl's eyes were shut tight as she howled in pain. She then grabbed a fist full of the boy's hair and pulled. "You did this to me and you said you loved me!"

"Doctor!" the boy cried as his lover almost ripped a handful of his hair out.

Valerie held up her hands. "Focus on your breathing and I'll be right with you. I swear they all want to do natural birthing until the labor pain hits." She then took the Imperial officer by the hand and lead him toward the two teens. "Anyway it's good timing you showed up when you did. Your hands are so soft that you'll be perfected at catching."

The officer was in a daze. "Catching what?"

"The baby."

Timing it just perfectly Sabine then doubled over in mock pain and howled.

The eyes of the young brave Imperial officer rolled up into his skull as he fainted. Valerie let go of the unconscious man's hand and looked at the stormtroopers still gathered in the room. "Well then would any of you like to volunteer?"

The troopers looked at each other and even through their helmet you could guess at their expressions. They all politely declined and then dragged their commanding officer out of the Doctor's home.

Once they were gone Valerie checked in on Ezra and Sabine in the examine room. Sabine had safely deviled a bundle of towels that were wrapped around her mando helmet.

"Did my acting work?" Sabine asked.

"You did wonderfully." Ezra said with smile.

Valerie agreed wholeheartedly. "Sabine, when you are ready for childbirth for real then you absolutely must come find me. I want you to know that helping you bring Ezra's child into the world would be a pleasure. Still I expect Ezra to be gentleman and wait till your both older."

Again the doctor's words had left Sabine and Ezra blushing bright red.

-end-

I wasn't planing on making Valerie as veteran of the Clone Wars but it felt right as I wrote this. The part about her being Mira's OB/GYN and delivering Ezra as a baby was always part of the story. As well as her thinking Ezra brought Sabine to see her because she was pregnant.

I'm also just guessing that Sabine's a brunette as I think that's the color of her eyebrows. (Don't have an official image of her in front of me right now)

There was a lot that I left out of this chapter that I wanted to work in.

The Rebels escape was going to be more of a dogfight with Chopper helping out. At that point I just wanted them to go and get away so we could get back to Sabine and Ezra.

As for my theories on the Bridgers I have two.

One is that Ephraim who did underground broadcasting use to worked in the comm tower that Ezra now call's home. From his father I also think Ezra got his skills at making and repairing things.

Two is that Mira was a Jedi exile and it's from his mother that Ezra get's his connection to the Force.

Not that she feel to the dark side but she left the Jedi Order before the start of clone wars because she found that life of sacrifice so empty. Or maybe her master died in a battle and she just never went back to the temple.

Now much of that is only in my head and in this story and like most theories I have about movies, games, and TV shows I'm dead wrong.

Next chapter will be the last and less fight or life and more slice of life. Ezra and Sabine hiding out in his tower on an extended vacation with the Ghost being gone.

Sabine will also get a little more bold and Ezra a bit more willing.

Thank you for reading and leave a review with your thoughts and or criticisms.


	4. Chapter 4

Star War Rebels is owned by Disney and I make no money off this use of their intellectual property.

The last chapter at last. Thinking about it I should have split this into two chapters.

Thinking about other things what do we call with Ezra/Sabine ship anyway?

I'm all for calling it Ezrabine as the man's name usually goes first in a name smash. Also Ezra is the one pursuing Sabine.

The other name I've seen is Sezra. I think that's a little more phonetically pleasing and Ezrabine sounds a bit a like a specialty coffee. It also puts Sabine's name a head of Ezra's and being a Mandalorian you'd think Sabine would prefer being on top of Ezra.

Not that any of that sort of stuff will be happening in this fanfiction.

Thank you everyone for your reviews and critiques. I've taken some of your words to heart and toned down Valerie a lot in this chapter. Now I just hope she don't come off as two different people.

Enjoy the finale chaper.

Blind Trust

Part 4

By Slayzer

-Valerie's Home the Gust Room-

It was the smells coming from the kitchen that first awoke Sabine.

She pulled the covers off the bed in Valerie's guest room and stretched. Being blinded and in an unfamiliar room Sabine had to slowly feel her way around. The dress was where she left it and she slipped into without issue. Now before she'd follow those delicious smells to breakfast Sabine had to do her mando morning ritual.

That was checking her blasters and armor over first thing every morning.

Even blind this was something Sabine could do by touch and feel alone. In fact any real mandalorian worth the name should be able to strip and resemble their equipment blindfolded.

The blasters had a full power charge but she could feel that the armor would need some fresh paint. As of right now there was nothing she could about the new paint. Sabine secured her blasters then packed them and her armor away in a duffel bag.

Done with that Sabine went to get herself some breakfast.

Moving slowly and deliberately through the doctor's house Sabine made her way to the kitchen. She took a whiff of the tasty smells coming from the kitchen and smiled. "Good morning Ezra."

Ezra turned away from the skillet he was minding to see Sabine walk into the kitchen. The boy was dressed the cloths he'd borrowed last night as well as an apron. "How did you know it was me, is your sight back?"

"No, I'm just seeing a big white blur instead of a big black blur. But I can recognize your cooking by smell. Now let me guess." Sabine sniffed the kitchen air and smiled. "Loth-pancakes, bantha links, fresh yogan juice and a pot of light roasted caf."

Ezra tuned his attention back to his loth-pancakes in the skillet and flipped them with a flick of his wrist. "You have a good nose."

"Trust me it was a great day when you joined the crew and saved my long suffering taste buds from anymore of Kanan's or Hera's cooking." Sabine said as she seated herself at the kitchen table.

Ezra loaded up a plate for Sabine and set in front of her. "Oh and I bet they weren't just as happy to keep you out of the galley."

Sabine simply shrugged but she didn't deny it what he said either. "I can admit that my expressive talents don't translate well into the culinary arts."

"I think the best way to describe your cooking is adventures and burnt."

Sabine wisely chose to end the conversation by shoveling a fork load of food into her mouth. Ezra fixed another plate and a cup of caf for doctor Valerie who came shuffling in a few moments later.

Valerie didn't say a word as she sat down and took a long pull on her hot caf. "This could use a little freshening up." she then got up from the table and opened her liquor cabinet. Valerie took out one of the many bottle of liquor and poured a double shot into her caf.

"It's a little early for that isn't it?" Ezra asked a little worried about his aunt's behavior. The vivacious and playful woman who sheltered him and Sabine last night was no where to be seen.

"It's not early if the night never ended. I had that dream again. The one where my old Jedi General Di and Captain Keeli show up on my doorstep with a Republic gunship and said they needed my help. I get on and then we join a fleet of Republic warships crewed by all the good men, women and Jedi who died in the Clone Wars. Then we all fly to Coruscant to overthrow the Emperor and his vile regime. Then I wake up and realize that the galaxy is still broken and there's no way to heal it."

Valerie was about to take a drink when Ezra stopped her. "You do help to heal this galaxy all the time. You look after the people the Empire's given up on. Last night you helped me and Sabine and you must have guessed that the Empire wasn't after me for picking pockets."

Valerie gave Ezra a wry smile. "I just thought you finally snatched one too many of their helmets. My few acts of kindness don't even make a dent in all the suffering on Lothal. "

Ezra took a breath and remembered something he overheard Kanan say once. "A single act of kindness can inspire a galaxy of hope."

The mug of spiked caf stopped at Valeire's lips. She stopped and placed the mug back down on the table. "When did you start studying Jedi philosophy?"

Ezra shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal. "Long dead Jedi philosophy or not it's true. The work you do inspires hope and that hope dose make a difference even if you can't see it."

Valerie looked to Ezra and then down at her mug of booze laced caf. "You've grown Ezra."

"Yeah, I think I had a growth spurt since the last time you saw me."

"That's not what I meant." Valerie then pushed her mug away. "Dump this out and pour me a fresh cup in a clean mug. Then after a this nice breakfast Ezra made I'll check Sabine's eyes over before you two head out."

Ezra brought Valerie a new mug of caf and a joined her and Sabine at the table. "Thank you again, Aunty."

"Call me Valerie, after all your not a little kid anymore Ezra."

Sabine just smiled softly as Ezra reconciled with a part of his past.

-After Breakfast in Valerie's Clinic-

Sabine twitched slightly as Valerie used a dropper to drip some burning liquid into her blinded eyes. "Hold still a little longer deary, this treatment will sting for a while but it well help your eyes heal faster."

After a few painful moments the white blur of Sabine's vision gave way to hazy outlines of Doctor Valerie and her clinic. "It's working. I can't see you clearly but I can almost make out your outline."

Valerie placed a clean cotton swab on Sabine's eyes and then wrapped them up with gauze bandages. "Leave these bandage's on for a few hours and if your vision doesn't improve by tomorrow come back for another treatment."

"That's it?" Sabine asked feeling the bandages that wrapped around her head like a blindfold.

"Why did you want something more complicated?"

"I was expecting you to make some tactless joke at my or Ezra's expense."

"I only joke because you two seem so in love with each other."

Sabine folded her arms defiantly. "I think maybe you should get your eyes checked Doctor. Just because Ezra follows me around like a love sick kath-puppy doesn't mean I return those feelings."

"All I've seen Ezra do is guide a blinded girl through a citywide dragnet and then outsmarted an Imperial search party. Believe me when I say this that the Ezra Bridger I've known of the last eight years would never do that for anyone. Despite whatever clumsy way he express himself it's clear that cares about you very much."

"I know that but things are complicated."

"So 'things' are complicated but your feelings are not?" Valerie asked with a smile that even the blinded Sabine could feel.

"Alright, fine I'll admit it! Ezra's kind and cleaver and I like that he's gutsy and a little reckless. He can be charming despite himself and yes he's not at all bad looking. Kind of handsome really with that unruly mop of blueish black hair, sharp features and just most amazing eyes." Sabine blushed as she admitted to having feelings for the boy who she's so far turned down. "But like I said things are complicated!"

"So are things going to be uncomplicated anytime soon?"

Not with them fighting the Empire for years into the foreseeable future. "No."

"Deary, let me give you some advice. Life can be so very complicated but love is painfully simple. While your waiting for some perfect moment that might never come Ezra may get the wrong message and move on. When your ready don't wait for that perfect moment with Ezra but chose a moment and then make it perfect with him."

Sabine nodded as made her way to the door. "Thank you for your help and the advice."

-Living Room-

Ezra was waiting for Sabine to finish up with Valerie. As the two walked out of the doctor's clinic Ezra handed Sabine the duffel bag that held her mando gear. "Ready to go?"

Sabine shouldered the duffel bag and then put a hand on Ezra's shoulder so he could guide her. "Lead on."

Doctor Valerie stopped them before they even got out the door. "Hold on Ezra your forgetting something."

"I'm sure I got every..." Ezra's voice hitched in his throat as Valerie held out the case that had his mother's lightwave-lyre in it. "That's not mine."

"Your right. It's your mother's but it is time you took it with you. Before you were always struggling to stay alive and your past was just a burden to you. Now when I look at you seem so alive and I know Mira would want you to have this."

Ezra's fingertips brushed the wooden case and he could feel the loving memories of his mother. It was all so very much like how he could sometimes feel Kanan through the Force. Ezra took a deep breath and then accepted the case from Valerie. "Thank you for looking after this for me."

"Maybe, when your ready, I could stop by a listen to you play."

"Perhaps and thank you again for all you've done not just for last night but for the last eight years too."

Valerie smiled kindly. "Ezra, may the Force be with you."

Those words stopped Ezra cold. "Why did you say that?"

"Oh, you said at breakfast that your learning some Jedi philosophy. That was just something my old Jedi General use to say to us before a hard mission. I just thought it meant good luck."

"It dose but it also means a lot more then that."

Ezra and Sabine then left the doctor's house. Valerie watched them go and thought of just how much Ezra had gown up. It was like he had found some inner light and it shone through the darkness of his tragic past.

'I wonder what Mira would have said about this.'

-A little over fifteen years ago, Lothal Clinic-

A much younger Valerie, her curly blond hair still cut short from her military serves, looked over an ultrasound readout. "Your son is doing just fine Mrs Bridger."

Mira Bridger smiled and patted her swollen belly softly. "Good to know. Now doctor may I ask you a few questions about what happens after I give birth."

"Of course. There are no bad questions when it comes to the health care of your child."

"The thing is I don't know what test you run on newborns out here on the Rim."

"Lothal maybe a nonaligned Rim world but our technology is current with most Republic or Confederation systems. There's very little modern medicine can't do even for congenital disorders. So you have nothing to worry about, we'll make sure your boy is born healthy."

Mira nodded. "I understand that but what I was really wondering about was midichlorians test."

"A midichlorians test? Republic worlds are obligated to preform that on newborns as a way to screen for Force sensitivity but we're not part of the Republic. Lothal also hasn't had official ties to the Jedi Order for centuries. If you'd like to test your son for _midichlorians_ we could do it easily but the odds of anyone..."

Mira raised a hand to silence the Doctor. "A test will not be necessary. I already know that my son will be strong with the Force. I just want to make sure no one else will found out."

"How do you already know?" Valerie asked skeptical of the young mother's claim.

Mira raised a hand toward Valerie with her palm turned outward. Suddenly the doctor's datapad went flying across the room and into Mira's hand. "I know because I myself am learned in the ways of the Force."

"Your a Jedi Knight." Valerie had served under a Jedi Genral in the war so this was not the first time she'd seen someone use the Force.

"I'm a former Jedi Knight. They'll let you leave the Order if you want to."

"But why leave?"

Mira rubbed her tummy thoughtfully. "I decided that I wanted a family and that's one of the many things verboten in the Jedi Order. Also the life of a Jedi is one of sacrifice and I found that way of living to be so very empty. So unlike my mother I won't let the Jedi snatch my child away from me and then decide for him what his destiny should be. Ezra will grow up and make his own choices."

Valerie thought back to her days not that long ago in the Clone War. Her commanding officer had been a Jedi General named Di but he and his garrison were wiped out on Ryloth. Valerie wasn't there when he sacrificed himself and his men to save the twi'lek rebels. She still hated herself for it, surviving. Maybe the reason everyone calls the Jedi heroes is because it sounds so much better then what they really are, martyrs.

Valerie took a moment the push those thoughts out of her head. "Your son's name will be Ezra."

"Don't like it?" asked Mira.

"No, I think it's a kind and strong name."

-End Flashback-

Valerie watched from her window as Ezra and Sabine turned down the street and out of sight. Now she was no fool despite how she may act and she knew all about Lothal's rebel cell and it's Jedi leader.

"If the Republic and Jedi hadn't fallen then your life would have been very much like Mira planed for you. A quite, simple and peaceful life. Yet here you are following the path of the Jedi. So now I have to wonder if this is what they call the 'will of the Force' or is that just a way of saying fate."

-Ezra's Tower-

The old tower door opened without trouble and Ezra was suddenly glad that Sabine couldn't see. Of his many talents and skills housekeeping was not among them. His collection of dusty Imperial helmets line the tops of shelves and a long work bench was cluttered with half started tinkerings. The door immediately to the left lead to a kitchenette and the door on the far end in the back was a door to the bathroom.

"Sorry about the mess but I don't entertain guest often."

Sabine felt her way into Ezra's living space. "So this is where you live?"

"Be it ever so humble there's no place like home." Ezra said closing the door behind him.

"I thought your home was with us on the Ghost." Sabine said as she found a clean spot on a work bench to sit on.

Ezra started to clean up a little. "Well you should hope not. I have a bad habit of having homes taken from me."

The comment hung in the air like a cold dark cloud for the next few hours. Sabine waited while Ezra busied himself cleaning. Soon he had his tower looking cleaner then he had ever had it. The only major problem left with Sabine staying over was the sleeping arrangements.

Ezra's place only had the one bed.

Sabine had waited quietly while Ezra cleaned but with nothing to do she was now bored out of her mind. Down time had never sat well with her, especially recovery time. She needed something to do and her normal past time of painting was out of the question for a while.

"So what do you do for fun around here?"

"Well with the equipment in this communications tower I can get all the Holonet channels, even the premium ones. Also I'm sure I have a Dejarik board or a Sabacc deck around here somewhere. "

"Seeing as I can't see how about some music?" Sabine asked as she drummed her fingers on the wooden lightwave-lyre case.

"I honestly don't like playing that."

"But your very good at it."

"My mother was very good at it and I think about her every time I play."

"Isn't that a good thing? I remember that you said you couldn't let yourself hope that they were alive. Don't you even want to think about them at all?"

"Eight years ago there was an event in my life that changed everything that happened before and after it. It wasn't just my family or my home that I lost, It was warmth and kindness and love as well. I just can't let myself think about those times even the good parts."

"If that's true then I find that to be rather sad."

"Don't pity me." Ezra said darkly as his hands curled into tight fists.

"I'm just trying to understand you. Besides aren't things different for you now? Don't you have Kanan and Hera and Zeb and...me. "

"Well I never asked you to try and understand me! I don't ask Kanan about how it felt to see the Jedi Order destroyed! I don't ask Zeb to talk about the genocide of his people! And not once, not once, have I ever asked you about your time in the Imperial Academy!"

Sabine folded her arms defensively and took a step back away from Ezra. His angry words had hit her where she hurt the most. Those long dark painful years at the Imperial Academy on Mandalor. Ezra saw that he had hurt Sabine and instantly regretted saying anything.

A long painful silence filled the small room as the two teenaged put as much space between them as the could.

After several minutest Ezra had enough and opened the door to leave. He looked back at Sabine and he could 'feel' her blinded eyes watching him. Ezra wanted to say something, anything, to make up for his earlier words.

Ezra could not find words to say so he just left Sabine alone without saying anything.

Listening to the door shut Sabine was struck by the realization that she was alone. Ezra had been with her every step from the moment since she was blinded in that alleyway. He hadn't abandoned her after she tried to tell him off, or when Stormtroopers almost had them cornered twice. Ezra had stuck with her even after she tried to kill herself.

Now he was gone because of what she had said to him.

"Beautifully played Sabine." She said to herself as she adjusted to the silence and stillness of Ezra's empty home.

Meanwhile outside Ezra was wishing he could use the Force to kick his own ass.

How could have have been such a jerk and to Sabine of all people?

She was the first person in a long time that he had even wanted to close to. Ezra just wasn't prepared for what getting closer to Sabine would mean for him. It meant opening up and sharing things that he would rather keep buried in the past. If it wasn't bad enough that Sabine asking those things were painful and awkward for Ezra but then he had to yell at her.

'I'm so new at this relationship stuff that I must have come off like an angry brat. Maybe I should ask someone for some advice? Well I can't ask Kanan or he'd read me the Jedi riot act for days on end. Zeb would just mock me and Hera would say I shouldn't let myself get distracted from our mission. As far as the crew of the Ghost goes my best choice would be Chopper and that's saying something.'

Ezra tuned his downcast eyes up to the sky. "I wonder how their doing anyway?"

-Same Time but Light-years Away From Lothal on The Ghost-

Kanan was laying on his back and elbow deep in the Ghost's communications equipment. "Okay Chop try it again."

Chopper was at a command terminal ready to power on the comm but he bleeped loudly at Kanan.

"Look I don't care if you think it's too much for our equipment. I'm getting a signal to Lothal even if I have to tape it to you shoot you there on a thruster."

Luckily for Chopper that was when Hera walked in. She looked at the mess the Jedi had made of her communications gear and the droid who got roped into helping.

Chopper bleeped something to Hera that sounded like something between frustration and distress.

"It's all right Chopper, I'll take care of Kanan. You go recharge."

Chopper then left Kanan and Hera in the cockpit.

Hera took the pilot's seat and looked at Kanan and the mess he made with a soft patient smile. "Kanan you must know there's no way we can call Ezra from way out here."

"I am very aware of that." Kanan said as he kept working on the guts of the Ghost's computers.

"Then what are you doing to my ship?"

"I had to do something."

"And that something had to be destroying my ship?"

"I just feel so damn useless. My master was right there when I needed her but what good am I to Ezra when I'm light-years away? How can I even be fit to call myself his master?"

"Even if your not with Ezra your teaching will always be a part of him and I have every confidences in him. Like I said before he's a survivor."

"I don't remember you have such confidence in me so soon after we first meet."

"It took longer with you because the first impression you made you were slightly hungover and staring at my breasts."

Kanan could help but smile at the foolishness of those not so long ago times. "It's a good thing I don't do that anymore or I really would be a terrible Jedi Master."

"Well you don't drink anymore but I still catch you staring at my breast from time to time."

Kanan's hand slipped and he got a small shock for his trouble then he banged his head getting out the craw space. "I do not!"

Hera gave Kanan a teasing smile and beckoned him to the empty copilot chair. The reluctant Jedi sat down across from the twi'lek and folded his arms.

"Don't pout." Hera said to Kanan.

"I'm not... -sigh-. Look I'm just worried about Ezra and Sabine being out there on their own. This isn't like when Ezra went undercover at the academy, we had plans in place in case things went wrong." Kanan rubbed his temples as frustration built inside him. "What was I thinking sending kids, just kids who aren't even older then sixteen, off like that? Zeb or I should have been there to cover them. It's my fault if they get hurt or captured."

Hera took hold of Kanan's right hand that had a small fresh burn mark on it and brought it to her lips then kissed it. The feeling of her soft wet lips on Kanan's injured skin stung a bit but it also sent a shiver up his spine.

"Love, what you were thinking was that Ezra and Sabine both needed to boost their confidence in their abilities. Ezra still needs to learn more about teamwork and Sabine for all her skills can be as headstrong and stubborn as a wild bantha. This was an opportunity for both of them to gain some much needed experience. You trusted them to do their job and now you need to keep trusting them to get each other home."

Kanan allowed himself to smile for the first time in over a day. "Your right."

"As always." Hera said as her smile got even more playful. Then getting more bold she got up form her chair and sat down in Kanan's lap facing him.

Hera then hit a switch that sent the chair back down all the way so she was no longer in his lap but laying on top of him. "You know we haven't had the ship to ourselves for some time now. Maybe we should just enjoy it while me can."

"Zeb's still on board." Kanan said as he lazily stroked one of Hera's emerald colored lekku.

"That lasat could sleep through a Imperial bombardment." Hera said as she grabbed Kanan's goatee and pulled his lips to her own.

As he and Hera were kissing Kanan couldn't help but think that a few days away might just be okay.

-Lothal-

It was getting dark out when Ezra made his way back to his tower from the city. He had bought some supplies but really he had just needed to get away for a while. It still hurt him thinking about what Sabine had said to him and what he had said to her.

Ezra thought about what to say as he took the old elevator up the tower. As he came around the corner he saw Sabine leaning out over the railing. A gale of wind played with her short brunette hair and the hem of her yellow dress. Ezra was struck by just what a beautiful contrast Sabine made with the surroundings. The lightness of Sabine's skin tone, dress and her hair playing against the darkening blues and blacks as night fell.

Sabine reached up and undid the bandages around her head. Then the wind pulled the long white ribbon of gauze off her face before she could and sent if flying through the air. She then slowly opened her eyes to the softly dieing light of day.

"Beautiful." Sabine said tearing up a little as she could once again see the world and it's vibrant color.

"Very." Ezra said before he knew what he was saying. Sabine turned to face him and while he meet that she was very beautiful he wasn't going let her know that's what he meant. "I, ugh, meant the view. I've always loved the view from up here."

Sabine turned away from Ezra still finding it awkward to talk to him. "I see why you like it here."

"Well that's not why..." Ezra stopped himself and opened the door to his hideout. "... Anyway, I'll start dinner soon."

"So I'm still welcome here even after fighting with each other?"

"Of course you are. I may be a little angry with you but we're friends and friends get to be angry with each other from time to time."

Sabine smirked a little. "Like how you and Zeb fight all the time."

Ezra pointed a finger at Sabine and returned her smirk. "Or like how you and Hera argue all the time."

"Hey, we don't argue..." the disbelieving look Ezra gave Sabine stopped her short. "...that often."

"Come on, I'll start dinner."

Keeping with Ezra's excellent cooking skills dinner was very good even if the atmosphere was a little strained. The living space of the tower as already small so there really was no place to hide from each other or themselves. Ezra and Sabine came to realize that they'd have to deal with the invisible gundark in the room.

"I'm sorry." Ezra and Sabine started to say after finishing a dinner were they had hardly said a word to each other.

"No, I'm the one who needs to..." Ezra started to say.

"I should be the one who..." Sabine said at the same time.

Sabine and Ezra stopped and smiled at each other. Here they where ready to make up and they couldn't even get a word in.

Sabine raised a hand so she could say her peace. "I'm sorry that I upset you earlier. I knew it would be difficult for you to talk about your family. I just wanted to get to know you better and what happened to your family is an important part of what made you who you are. When I was with Doctor Valerie she'd talk a little about Ephraim and Mira, they seemed like great people."

Ezra nodded his head softly. "Yeah, mom and dad were the best. Now it's my turn to apologize. You see I do want to get closer to you and the others but at the same time I'm not sure how to share the painful parts of my life. I guess I got angry because the truth is I'm not dealing with my past and I might be in more pain then I'm willing to admit. I'm so sorry that I lashed out at you like that."

"Forgiven." Sabine said with kind smile.

That one word and smile from Sabine sent Ezra's heart soaring. He got up and offered his hand to her. "Would you close your eyes for a moment and follow me?"

"Are we going far?"

"Not far at all but I want to show you something."

Sabine took a hold of Ezra's hand and then shut her eyes. He lead her to a hatchway and a ladder going up the tower's spine. "We have to go up a floor." Ezra said guider her to first rungs of the ladder.

"Up, I thought this was the top floor?"

Ezra didn't say anything as he went up the ladder first with Sabine was right behind him.

The space they entered was dark and cramped. In fact Sabine's head could brush against the low ceiling. "What is this some kind of closet?"

Ezra found a switch on the floor and flipped it. motors and gears turned as the ceiling opened up and out like the petals of a budding flower. "Take a look, this is the best view on Lothal."

Sabine opened her eyes and saw all the stars in the heavens over Lothal hanging above her. It seemed that the housing for the tower's communications equipment could open up and make an impromptu deck. The view was so great that Sabine almost felt like she could fall into sky.

Ezra dug out a few thick blankets from a near by chest and set one out on the floor. "My dad use to work in this tower. Sometimes when it was down for major repairs he'd sneak me and mom up here. It was kind of like camping and we just stay up late watching the stars. After I lost my home, this was the only place I could feel safe."

"It's amazing." Sabine said as a cold night wind whipped through and chilled her for a moment.

Ezra patted a space on the blanket as he wrapped another around himself. "It get's cold up here at night but I've got a seat saved for you."

Sabine looked at the stop Ezra had saved for her right next to him. He sensed a little reluctance from her. "Or you could sit anywhere you'd like."

"Anywhere I like? Are you sure about that, anywhere at all?"

"Yeah."

"Then how about your lap?"

Before he could answer Sabine sat down between Ezra's legs and leaned back into his chest. Sabine was taller then Ezra and she had to slide down a bit so that her head could rest comfortably on his shoulder. Ezra pulled a blanket around the both of them as Sabine made herself snug in his arms.

It was all so very romantic.

A beautiful clear night sky with a young couple cuddling together in the warmth of some blankets and each other. How long had they stayed like that? Was it only ten minutes or had it been two hours? Time seemed to lose all it's meaning for this one prefect moment that existed only for Ezra and Sabine.

Ezra looked at the beautiful girl in his arms as he felt the her warmth of her body fill his heart. "Sabine?"

"Yes."

"Has anything changed between us or am I reading into things to deeply? I mean you must know how I feel about you even if I never said it. So I'm just wondering if things are different now."

Sabine didn't even have to think before answering. "No, nothing's changed."

Ezra sighed as he felt his heartbreak. "I see. You know what just forget I said anything and I'm sorry that I read too much in to this..."

Sabine suddenly turned around and pushed Ezra down onto the floor so she was now laying on top of him. "Shut up, things haven't changed because you already had me."

That was when Sabine kissed Ezra for the first time.

Ezra returned Sabine's kiss. Like everything else about Ezra what he lacked in experience he more then made up for with effort and passion. Ezra's lips quickly became Sabine's second favorite feature on his face, his blue eyes being the first.

Breaking the kiss Ezra ran his fingers through Sabine's short brown hair and then down her cheek. "Sabine, I've been too afraid to tell you something. After what happened to my parents I've been too afraid to say or even feel this way for anyone."

"You don't have to say it Ezra, I already know."

"Yes but I want to say it and you deserve to hear it." Ezra then cupped Sabine's beautiful face in his hands. "I love you, Sabine."

"I love you too, Ezra."

-The End-

(Slayzer takes a moment to celebrate by cranking up "Can you feel the love tonight" on his "Lion King" soundtrack.)

Okay this is done and not a moment too soon.

I wanted to work a little Kanan/Hera into this just because I ship them. To be fair if I ever did a Kanan and Hera love story I'd slip a little Ezra/Sabine into that for the same reason.

Now that I think about it, can Jedi double date? Because then I could do something that had both Ezra/Sabine and Kanan/Hera.

Also I didn't intend for it to happened but both Hera and Sabine kind took charge and threw themselves on top of their men. That was not planed at all but I think I'm so just sick of this playing hard to get crap in TV.

Come on Hera and Sabine get out there and get your men.

I think I'll take a break from Star Wars Rebels fanfic until the first seasons over. I've had some ideas already but nothing I've fleshed out. Here are a few of those thoughts.

1. Ghost crew beach party fan fic. Rated a high T for beautiful females in swimwear and Jedi behaving badly.

2. Ezra falls to the Dark Side fan fic. And when I say fall I mean embraces the Dark Side. I kind of like the idea of an Evil Ezra hunting down Jedi and Rebel scum.

3. Kanan meets an old flame from his wild years who is now an Imperial TIE ace. Dose the Jedi go out with his old flame to steal Intel on the new TIE Fighter Advanced and just how much of his feelings for this woman are fake? How dose Hera react to this, dose she even have the right to be jealous?

4. While on assignment Ezra meets a cute girl his own age who just happens to be a Empire trained Dark Side Acolyte. So it's a good thing she falls for him harder then he falls for her.

5. This one might get to close to an M rating. The Rebels go undercover at slave ring to find a Jedi survivor. Slight plot twist is that Ezra and Kanan are undercover as 'merchandise' while Sabine and Hera are their owners. Zeb is, as always, the muscle.

Anyway those are ideas I've had and who knows if I'll get to even one of them.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

Well I guess I'll leave you with a bit of an epilogue.

-Lothal Capitol City (Day of the Rebel victory on Endor)-

The mobs celebrating in the streets had slowed traffic to a stand still. The only way Kanan, Hera, Zeb and Chopper were getting anywhere was on foot. Only now they had to push through those same happy mobs. To be fair if they weren't in such a rush they have joined in the festivities as well.

After all the Emperor was dead and without him the New Order was rudderless.

In some places on the outer rim celebrating mobs sent disorganized Imperial forces running. The once mighty Empire had cracked and now all the Rebels had to do was shatter it. That would take many more battles and years of fighting but a new hope had awakened in the galaxy.

This was all secondary to the crew of the Ghost who had more pressing matters. Kanan had enough of this. "Zeb, Chopper! Make a hole!"

"Right!" Zeb yelled as he picked up Chopper and used the droid like a battering ram. Chopper would zap anyone who got close as the rebels pushed through the crowd. Now making good time it wasn't long until the made it to Valerie's house.

The door was open and the doctor was waiting for them in the living room. Before any of the rebels could say a word Valerie pointed her clinic room. "Their all there waiting for you."

Kanan swallowed a lump in his throat. "All of them?"

Valerie smiled kindly. "Go see."

The crew of the Ghost opened the doors to a clean white room and found their other two members.

Plus one more.

Sabine was siting up in a bed and dressed in a white hospital gown. Ezra was at her side dressed in his dark blue and gray colored Jedi Knight vestments. Held lovingly in Sabine's arms was a bundle of new born life swaddled in white linen. The couple now in their mid twenties looked up from their baby to see their friends, no, what they saw the rest of their family here with them.

"It's a boy." Ezra said softly.

Kanan had to fight down tears of joy but Hera had no problem letting them flow. Sabine let the others see the baby boy who had tuft of his father's blue black hair.

Chopper pushed in closer to the bed to get a better look. Zeb smiled and asked. "So what's he going to be then, a Jedi or a Mandalorian?"

Ezra looked down at his son cradled in his wife's arms and smiled. "He can be whatever he wants."

"As long as it's a mandalorian." Sabine said as she smiled teasingly at her husband.

Ezra and Kanan shared a look that said 'Jedi' as if it was even a contest.

Valerie walked into the room and pushed toward the couple and their new born son. "Setting aside matter of what he'll be when he grows up, he'll need a name first."

Ezra looked down at his son and seemed to get embarrassed. "We've thought of a name but..."

Sabine nudged her husband lightly and then looked at Kanan. "Well go on and ask him."

"Ask me what?" Kanan asked looking at his former padawan now a full Jedi Knight.

"With your blessing I was going to name my son Caleb."

Now it was useless for Kanan to fight back tears. It took him a moment to compose himself. A life time ago before Order 66 Kanan Jarrus had been Caleb Dume a Padawan to Master Depa Billaba. The fact that Ezra wanted to name his son, a boy born the the day the Emperor died, Caleb was too much.

Kanan brushed a tear from his eye. "I would be honored to have your son carry that name."

Ezra took his son from Sabine and held him in middle of the room so everyone could see him.

Caleb Bridger cooed softly as his father showed him around.

"Look, Caleb this is your family." Ezra said of Kanan, Hera, Zeb and Chopper.

Sabine leaned forward and put a tired arm around her husband's shoulder. "No, Ezra. Their our family too."

-Fin-

I love happily ever after endings.

If that didn't make you a little misty eyed or sick with sweet sappiness then I'm not doing my job. Not that I'm getting paid (Lord knows I'm not) but messing with the emotions of total stranger is part of the appeal of Fanfiction writing.

Please as always leave your love, hate or opinion in a review.

Thank you again for reading.


End file.
